New Years Eve

"Angela, how do I look?" Tori asked as her friend sprayed her hair. Tonight, she and Shannon were going to Matt's New Years Eve party, and she was going to give Shannon a surprise.

"You look like...a pregnant pink haired girl," Angela said as Tori laughed.

In the last couple of months, Shannon and Tori have gotten closer and closer. There had been several times she had seen her boyfriend in face paint and hair dye, and wanted to show him that she supported it and could do it too. She straightened out her hooded sweatshirt and jeans as she heard the doorbell ring. "Ang, can you open the door?"

"Sure," she said.

When Angela opened the door, Shannon hugged his cousin, and waited paitently for Tori. When he saw Tori, walk into the living room, his jaw dropped.

"What?"

"Tor, I don't think I have ever seen you in pink hair dye. You look great!" he exclaimed as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"Well, you can thank Angela for the hair. Besides, I wanted to show you that I can spray paint my hair as well."

Shannon giggled as he kissed her cheek, and they eventually left for Matt's house. When they got to the party, everyone was suprised to see Tori's pink hair, but all agreed that it looked good on her. While Shannon went to get his face painted by Jeff, Tori hung out in the living room with Jeff's girlfriend Beth.

"So, what did Shannon think of your pink hair?"

"He said that it looked great. I think I kind of surprised him," she said laughing.

"Yeah, but I can understand why you did it. When I Jeff and I first started dating, it was kind of shocking to see him like that, but after awhile, you realize its part of their personality.

"Exactly" Tori agreed. "Its part of the person that you love."

"Absolutely," Beth said as they watched their boyfriends come into the living room.

"How do we look?" Jeff asked.

"Wonderful!" Beth told him.

Shannon and Tori laughed as he joined her on the couch, and pulling her into his lap. "Babe, how about we go outside for a minute?"

"Sure," she said as she followed Shannon through the patio doors, and cuddling together on a patio chair. "So Shannon, what's on your mind?"

"You," he said smiling, giving her a quick kiss. "I thought it was pretty cool tonight when I picked you up, and your hair was pink."

"Well, I wanted to show you I can fit into your world. When we first started dating, I will admit the face paint kind of shocked me, but like Beth said, its part of your personality, and part of the person I care about."

"You fit into my world regardless of your hair color," Shannon said as he pulled Tori closer to him. "I care about you too...alot. In fact, that is why I wanted to sit out here with you."

"Shannon..."

"Tori, I love you."

"I love you too, Shannon."

Two Months Later

It was the day Shannon and Tori had been waiting for since the day Tori found out she was pregnant. It was a couple of days before Valentines Day, and today was the important doctor appointment they couldn't wait for. Not only could they find out the sex of the baby, but also the paternity test would be done today as well.

"Are you nervous?" Shannon asked as they walked inside the doctor office.

"A little. Are you nervous?"

"A little."

Soon, they were both in the examination room, and Tori's doctor was hooking up the machine and placing the cold jelly on Tori's belly. Soon, she was moving the little machine over Tori's belly. Shannon was amazed how tiny the baby looked on the monitor, and lovingly squeezed Tori's hand as the doctor pointed out different body parts.

"Did you guys want to know the sex of the baby?"

Tori glanced one more time at Shannon, who noddd he wanted to know. Smiling, she told the doctor yes.

"Ok..." the doctor said as she took some more pictures. "Do you see that body part right there?"

"Yes..." Tori said as she glanced toward Shannon.

"Well, that is the 'extra' body part. You guys are expecting a boy."

"Yes," Shannon said excited, making Tori giggle. He then leaned down and kissed her forehead. They watched the doctor put away the sonogram equipment, and get out the necessary tools to administer the paternity test.

"Ok, Mr. Moore, we will start with you first," Tori's doctor said as she stuck a needle in his arm to draw out some blood, and then swabbed his mouth with a long stick resembling a cotton swab.

"Now, Tori, its your turn. I'm going to stick this in your belly, and draw some fluid."

"Is it possible to put a curtain over my belly or something so I don't have to watch? I'm not really fond of needles."

"Yes, I can do that," her doctor agreed. While her doctor was on one side of the curtain, Shannon moved his chair so he could get closer to Tori, almost being cheek to cheek. "You doing ok so far?" he asked her finally.

"Not really, I can feel that needle. Talk to me? I need to be distracted."

"Ok...do you remember the first day I met you?"

"Yeah," she said smiling. "You would hardly say anything, so I thought there was something on my face or clothes."

"No, I didn't say anything because I never in my wildest dreams would have thought I could ever meet someone so beautiful."

Tori smiled as she saw the doctor pull away the curtain. "Ok, Tori, you guys are all set. We will get the results in 2 or 3 days. We will call you, and can pick up the papers here. For the rest of the day, I do want you to get some rest though."

"Ok, thank you very much," she said as she and Shannon walked out of the office.

Shannon then took her back to his house. "Here, get yourself comfortable on the couch, and I will make us something to eat."

"Wait," she said pulling on his shirt. He then kneeled by the couch, waiting to hear what Tori had to say. "Thanks for being with me today at the doctor's office."

"I wanted to be there...and plus if I wasn't there, we wouldn't have been able to do the test."

"Well, I'm just happy that you were with me period, and you know that you didn't have to be."

"Hey, stop," he said putting a couple of fingers toward her lips. "I told you more than once that I'm with you for a reason, and that is because I love you and I love this baby, whether its mine or not. I meant it when I said I am with you for the long haul."

"I'm sorry. I should quit thinking like that, and I know you aren't going anywhere. Plus, I know that you should be going back to work, and instead you are taking care of me. Thank you for that."

"Your welcome, and there is no place I would rather be than taking care of my girl and our baby."